# Which is worse for your car? 100k miles in one year or 10k a year for 10 years **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [August 26, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088 "2013-08-26T22:47:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dradd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/35a633/32.png) [@Dradd](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Dradd)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088/1 "2013-08-26T22:47:10Z")
Assuming you perform the regular maintenance at the recommended mileages, which is harder on your car? ---
**Author:** ![macfisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@macfisto](https://community.cartalk.com/u/macfisto)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088/2 "2013-08-26T23:24:31Z")
100,000 miles in 1 year would have to be almost all highway miles, which are much easier on a car than stop-and-go city driving. All that driving in one year would be much harder on your posterior though, and probably your waistline. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088/3 "2013-08-26T23:35:04Z")
No contest100000 in one year is far better for your car. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088/4 "2013-08-26T23:37:37Z")
100K in one year are easy miles. ---
**Author:** ![Dradd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/35a633/32.png) [@Dradd](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Dradd)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088/5 "2013-08-26T23:54:55Z")
Thanks for the answers! This question obviously comes from a heated debate and I’m glad everyone is agreeing with me. ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088/6 "2013-08-26T23:55:00Z")
Some years ago I used to take a limousine to the airport. The cars were Mercury Grand Marquis. At one time I remember asking the driver how often they did the brakes. The car had 157,000 miles on it then and the brakes were yet to be touched. So, yes, 100,000 miles per year is generally much easier on a car unless it is a New York taxicab putting on these 100,000 miles per year. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088/7 "2013-08-27T00:03:09Z")
Yeah, I just changed the front pads on my G6. 95K on the original ones and they still had some surface left. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088/8 "2013-08-27T00:06:14Z")
Think of it this way: things wear according to miles, and over time. The miles are the same, the time in longer for the 10 year case, so 1 year wins, even without considering how much worse stop and go driving is than highway miles. ---
**Author:** ![dagosa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/dagosa/32/9837_2.png) [@dagosa](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dagosa)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088/9 "2013-08-27T03:06:34Z")
Your car will have 100 k mile either way. Now, let’s look at the real question. Assuming the condition of both cars are compared at the 100k mile mark. What is worse, a year old car or a ten year old car ? ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/which-is-worse-for-your-car-100k-miles-in-one-year-or-10k-a-year-for-10-years/81088/10 "2013-08-27T03:26:30Z")
Time wears out cars just like miles do. Of the two cars at 100K, the one that is only a year old will be in the better condition than the one that is 10 years old. When looking around for used cars, it’s a good idea to discount the price for the age the car as well as the mileage.